Corn-head-mounting structure

ABSTRACT

An adapter structure for mounting a combine corn head on the cutterhead housing of a forage harvester. The structure utilizes the available mounting points on the respective units and includes a platelike member substantially enclosing the crop outlet opening of the corn head, the platelike member having an opening in fore-and-aft register with the inlet opening of the forage harvester cutterhead housing. The structure further includes mechanism for driving the operating components of the corn head from a power source on the forage harvester.

United States Pte 3,270,489 8/1966 Rowweder Inventors App! No.

Filed Patented Assignee Robert Albert licking W Frederick Marlins.Otturnwa, both 0!, Iowa Feb. 16, 11970 Aug. 1 7, 19?! Deere 8t CornyMotine,

CORN-HEAD-MOUNTING STRUCTURE 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

11.8. Cl 56/2, 56/016. 9 llnt. Cl ..A0ld 73/00, AOld 45/02 Fieltl ofSearch 56/2, 21, 24,16,18,D1G 9 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS3,425,194 2/1969 Stottetal. 3,491,523 1/1970 Bornzin PrimaryExaminer-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-D. L. Weinhold Attorneys-H.Vincent Harsha, Harold M. Knoth, William A Murray and John M. Nolan56/DlG. 9 56/2 ABSTRACT: An adapter structure for mounting a combinecorn head on the cutterhead housing of a forage harvester. The structureutilizes the available mounting points on the respective units andincludes a platelilte member substantially enclosing the crop outletopening of the corn head, the platelike member having an opening infore-and-aft register with the inlet opening of the forage harvestercutterhead housing. The structure further includes mechanism for drivingthe operating components of the corn head from a power source on theforage harvester.

PATENTEDAUGI'HQ?! 8,599,402

' sum 1 UP 2 XNVENTORS ROBERT A. HElSING WILLIAM F. MANNS PATENTED AUG]7197:

SHEET 2 OF 2 INVEN'IORS ROBERT AHEISING WILLIAM F. MANNS The presentinvention relates generally to corn harvesting equipment, and moreparticularly to a structure for mounting a corn head on a forageharvester.

When equipped for harvesting corn, a conventional forage harvesterincludes a cutoff gathering head mounted forwardly of the cutterheadhousing which acts to gather the corn in one or more rows, sever thestalks from the ground and feed them rearwardly into the cutterheadhousing. The resulting forage is thus .a mixture of the relatively highenergy ears and the relatively low energy stalks and leaves. A higherenergy silage can be produced by feeding the ears along into the forageharvester. This has been accomplished in the past by mounting a hopperon the cutterhead housing in place of the conventional gathering head,and feeding ears, which have already been picked, into the hopper to bereduced by the cutterhead and blown into a silo or other stationarystorage structure. This practice has the disadvantage, however, ofrequiring two separate steps-first, picking the ears, and then choppingthem in the forage harvester.

An alternate and preferable method of producing high energy silage is tomount a corn head on the forage harvester, which picks the cars from thestalks and delivers them alone to the cutterhead, thereby consolidatingthe two steps into one. Although a corn head especially designed to fita conventional forage harvester could be constructed for this purpose,it is economically desireable to instead utilize a currently availablecombine corn head. However, most commercially available combine cornheads are designed to be used only with a combine, and therefore are notsuitable for use with a forage harvester without substantialmodification. For example, the mounting structure on the conventionalcombine corn head does not match the available mounting structure on theconventional forage harvester, nor does the crop outlet opening in thecorn head match the inlet opening in the forage harvester cutterheadhousing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the primary object of the presentinvention to provide a simple and economical structure for adapting acombine corn head for use on a forage harvester. It is a further objectto provide such a structure which utilizes the available mounting pointson the respective units.

The invention comprises, generally, a transversely extending, upright,platelike member adapted to be releasably secured to the availablemounting points on the rear wall of a commercially available combinecorn head and having appropriate mounting brackets on its rear side forreleasable mounting on a conventional forage harvester. The platelikemember encloses a substantial portion of the crop outlet opening of thecorn head, leaving a smaller opening approximately equal in size to thecrop inlet opening of the forage harvester cutterhead housing. Further,a transverse drive shaft is journaled on the member to transmit powerfrom an available source on the forage harvester to a drive sprocket onthe side of the corn head.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The preferred embodiment of thepresent invention is described in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a forage harvester with theadapter structure and corn head mounted thereon.

FIG. 2 is a somewhat enlarged partial perspective view of the forageharvester with the corn head and adapter structure removed.

FIG. 3 is a view of the adapter structure taken from the right rear.

FIG. 4 is a right rear view of the corn head attachment on the samescaleas FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the adapter structure mountedon the corn head attachment.

FIG. 6 is a partial view taken from the right rear showing the corn headand adapter structure mounted on the forage har vester.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the following description,rightand left-hand reference is deten'nined by standing at the rear ofthe forage harvester and facing the direction of travel.

The forage harvester illustrated includes an L-shaped frame structurehaving a generally fore-and-aft draft member 10 and a rear transverseportion indicated generally at 12. The frame is supported relative tothe ground on right and left ground wheels 14 and 16, respectively,carried outwardly of the respective sides of the transverse frameportion 12. A clevis 18 adapted to receive the tractor drawbar is fixedto the forward end of the draft member 10. Mounted] above and parallelto the member 10 is an inverted U-shaped shield 20 which encloses adrive shaft extending the entire length of the member 10 to a gear caseon the transverse frame 12. A short telescoping shaft 22 is connected tothe forward end of the drive shaft through a conventional universaljoint, :and in turn is provided with a universal joint 24 on its forwardend for connection with the tractor power driven shaft. Suitable drivemechanism (not shown) drivingly connects the output shaft of the gearcase with the various driven components on the harvester.

Mounted on the transverse frame portion 12 is a conventional cylindricalcutterhead (not shown) contained within a housing 26 having a forwardcrop inlet opening 28. The housing includes a pair of upright side walls30 and 32, a top plate 34 and a bottom plate 36. As shown in FIG. 2, apair of upper and lower feed rolls 38 and 40, respectively, whichcooperate to feed the harvested material rearwardly to the cutterhead,are joumaled in the sidewalls just rearwardly of the crop opening 28.The cutterhead reduces the material and again delivers it rearwardly toa transverse auger contained within a housing 42', the auger delivers itlaterally to a rotary blower 44 on the left side of the frame portion12, and the blower, in turn, propels it upwardly into a curved dischargespout 46 which directs it into an appropriate storage container, such asa trailing wagon.

A forage harvester equipped for harvesting corn silage is conventionallyfitted with a cutoff gathering head, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No.3,438,182 to Kessler, issued Apr. 15, 1969. To accommodate such agathering head, the housing 26 is provided with upper and lowertransverse mounting pins 48 and 50, respectively, which extend outwardlyfrom the sidewalls 30 and 32. As shown in the aforementioned patent, theconventional gathering head is provided with an appropriate bracket andfastening means for releasably mounting the head on the pins 48 and 50.

A silage of higher feed value than that obtained under the conventionalmethod can be produced by fitting the forage harvester instead with apicker-type corn head, such as that commonly used on a combine, whichstrips the ears from the stalks and leaves the latter in the field. Sucha corn head, indicated generally by the numeral 52, is shown mounted onthe forage harvester in FIG. 1 and includes a forward sheet metalstructure comprising right and left, forwardly extending snout portions54 and 56, respectively, and a center snout portion 58, whichconjunctively define a pair of fore-and-aft corn row receiving passages.The portions 54, 56 and 58 act to lift any fallen stalks and guide theminto the fore-.and-aft passages. Associated with each passage is a setof gathering chains 60 and a pair of snapping rolls 62, which operate ina well known manner to strip the ears from the stalks and carry themupwardly and rearwardly to a transverse auger 64. The auger 64 operatesabove a trough 66, and is provided with right and left, oppositelywound'flights 68 and 70 on its respective ends, which, when the auger isrotated, carry the ears from both rows centrally.

As previously noted, the corn head attachment 52 is of the typeconventionally used in conjunction with a combine, and is adapted to bemounted on the forward end of a combine feeder house in a manner similarto that disclosed is US. Pat. No. 3,270,489 to Rohweder, issued Sept. 6,1966. The present invention resides in means for mounting the corn head52 on the forage harvester, utilizing the available mounting structureon each unit, and consists generally of an adapter structure indicatedin its entirety by the reference numeral 72, means for mounting the cornhead attachment 52 on the adapter structure 72, and means for mountingthe adapter structure on the cutterhead housing.

As shown from the rear in FIG. 4, the corn head attachment 52 includes atransverse, generally upright rear wall 74 having a crop outlet opening76. The upper boundary of the opening 76 is formed by a transversestructural beam member 78 extending between right and left side portions80 and 82 of the attachment. The beam 78 projects rearwardly from thewall 74, and as shown in cutaway in FIG. 4, is provided with a pair ofelongated upwardly opening recesses 84 and 86 in its bottom surface.Additional mounting means are provided in the form of elongated slots 88spaced transversely along the lower edge of the wall 74.

The structure 72 is adapted to mount on the rear wall of the attachment52 and comprises a transverse upper beam member 90 having a pair ofelongated projections 92 and 94 on its upper edge adapted to be receivedin the respective recesses 84 and 86 in the beam 78, as shown in cutawayin FIG. 5. The adapter structure further includes a transverse uprightwall 96 having a crop transfer opening 98 therein, a lower transversestructural beam 100, a pair of vertical structural members 102 and 104connecting the respective ends of the transverse beams 90 and 100, andan additional pair of vertical supports 106 and 108 connecting thetransverse beamsjust outwardly of the sides of the crop opening 98.

' When the adapter structure 72 is mounted on the corn head attachment,as shown in FIG. 5, the upper surface of the transverse beam 90 isdisposed flush against the lower surface of the transverse beam 78' inthe attachment 52, and the projections 92 and 94 on the upper surface ofthe beam 90 are received respectively in the recesses 84 and 86 on thelower surface of the beam 78, thereby forming a readily connectable anddisconnectable means. Additional disconnectable means are provided inthe form of a plurality of elongated slots 110 along the lower edge ofthe wall 96 in fore-and-aft register with the slots 88 in the rear wall74 of the attachment, for receiving suitable disconnectable fastenermeans such as bolts 112, each bolt having an associated nut 113. Whenmounted in this manner, the wall 96 of the structure 72 fits tightlyagainst the rear wall 74 of the attachment, thus closing off asubstantial portion of the opening 76 and forming a crop tight sealbetween the walls 74 and 96.

The rear side of the structure 72 is provided with an upper and lowerpair of rearwardly opening U-shaped brackets 114, the upper pair beingmounted on the inner sides of the vertical support members 106 and 108just above the opening 98, and the lower pair being mounted rearwardlyof the lower beam 100, on support brackets 116 and 118, which, in turn.are fixed to the rear surface of the beam 100. As shown in FIG. 6, thebrackets 114 are adapted to receive the transverse upper and lowermounting pins 48 and 50. respectively, extending outwardly fromthe'cutterhead housing 26 on the forage harvester. A pair of verticallyaligned apertures 120 are provided in the legs of each of the brackets114 for receiving pins 122, which act to releasably retain the adapterstructure 72 on the mounting pins 48 and 50. It is apparent from FIG. 6that when the adapter structure and corn head attachment are mounted onthe forage harvester, the opening 98 in the wall of the attachment is infore-and-aft register with the crop inlet opening 28 of the cutterheadhousing, and the harvested crop fed centrally by the auger 64 is thusdirected between the feed rolls 38 and 40 in the housing.

A transverse drive shaft 124 is disposed adjacent the rear wall of thelower transverse beam 100 of the structure 72, and is joumaled at itsleft and right ends, respectively, in the support bracket 118 and thelower portion of the vertical structural member 102. A roller chain 126,shown partially in FIGS. 2 and 5, drivingly connects a driven sprocket128 on the forage harvester with an aligned sprocket 130 on the left endof the shaft 124, and a sprocket 132 on the right end of the shaft is,in turn, drivingly connected to a sprocket 134 on the right side of theattachment 52 through a second roller chain 136. An idler sprocket 140on the side of the attachment is adjustable to maintain the properrunning tension in the chain 136. The sprocket 134, in turn, drives theopening components of the attachment through an appropriate drivemechanism.

We claim:

1. In combination, a forage harvester having a mobile frame; acutterhead housing carried by the frame and having a forward crop inletopening; a corn head disposed forwardly of the housing including a rearwall having a crop outlet opening in foreand-aft register with andsubstantially larger than the inlet opening in the cutterhead housing;an adapter structure interposed between the corn head and the cutterheadhousing enclosing a substantial portion of the crop outlet opening inthe rear wall of the corn head and having a crop transferring opening infore-and-aft register with the respective openings in the cutterheadhousing and the corn head rear wall; first releasable connection meansbetween the cutterhead housing and the adapter structure; and secondreleasable connection means between the corn head and the adapterstructure.

2. The combination described in claim 1 wherein said first connectionmeans comprises: upper and lower transverse mounting pins extendingoutwardly from the cutterhead housing adjacent the crop inlet opening;upper and lower, rearwardly opening U-shaped brackets on the adapterstructure engageable with said mounting pins; and means for releasablysecuring the brackets on said pins.

3. The combination described in claim 1 wherein the second connectionmeans comprises: an upwardly opening socket means on the corn head; anupwardly projecting socket-engaging means on the adapter structure forengagement with and disengagement from the socket means; and additionaldisconnectable fastener means between the corn head and the adapterstructure spaced vertically from the socket means.

4. The combination described in claim 1 further including powertransmission means on the adapterstructure operably connecting a powersource means on the forage harvester with a power input means on thecorn head.

5. In combination, a forage harvester having a mobile frame; acutterhead housing carried by the frame and having a forward crop inletopening; upper and lower transverse mounting pins fixed to and extendingoutwardly from said housing; an upright, transversely extending adapterstructure disposed forwardly of the housing and having a crop transfer-'ring opening in fore-and-aft register with the inlet opening in thehousing; upper and lower, rearwardly opening Ushaped brackets on therear of the adapter structure engageable with said mounting pins; meansreleasably securing the brackets on said pins; a corn head disposedforwardly of the adapter structure including an upright, transverselyextending rear wall having a crop outlet opening in fore-and-aftregister with the openings in the adapter structure and cutterheadhousing,

respectively; an upwardly opening socket means on the corn head; anupwardly projecting socketfengaging means on the adapter structure forengagement with and disengagement, from the socket means; and additionaldisconnectable fastener means between the corn head and the adapterstructure spaced vertically from the socket means.

6; The combination described in claim '5 wherein the crop out-letopening in the rear wall of vthe corn head is substantially larger thanthe inlet opening in.the cutterhead housing; and the adapter structureencloses a substantial portion of the outlet opening.

connecting a power source means on the forage harvester with a powerinput means on the corn head.

1. In combination, a forage harvester having a mobile frame; acutterhead housing carried by the frame and having a forward crop inletopening; a corn head disposed forwardly of the housing including a rearwall having a crop outlet opening in fore-andaft register with andsubstantially larger than the inlet opening in the cutterhead housing;an adapter structure interposed between the corn head and the cutterheadhousing enclosing a substantial portion of the crop outlet opening inthe rear wall of the corn head and having a crop transferring opening inforeand-aft register with the respective openings in the cutterheadhousing and the corn head rear wall; first releasable connection meansbetween the cutterhead housing and the adapter structure; and secondreleasable connection means between the corn head and the adapterstructure.
 2. The combination described in claim 1 wherein said firstconnection means comprises: upper and lower transverse mounting pinsextending outwardly from the cutterhead housing adjacent the crop inletopening; upper and lower, rearwardly opening U-shaped brackets on theadapter structure engageable with said mounting pins; and means forreleasably securing the brackets on said pins.
 3. The combinationdescribed in claim 1 wherein the second connection means comprises: anupwardly opening socket means on the corn head; an upwardly projectingsocket-engaging means on the adapter structure for engagement with anddisengagement from the socket means; and additional disconnectablefastener means between the corn head and the adapter structure spacedvertically from the socket means.
 4. The combination described in claim1 further including power transmission means on the adapter structureoperably connecting a power source means on the forage harvester with apower input means on the corn head.
 5. In combination, a forageharvester having a mobile frame; a cutteRhead housing carried by theframe and having a forward crop inlet opening; upper and lowertransverse mounting pins fixed to and extending outwardly from saidhousing; an upright, transversely extending adapter structure disposedforwardly of the housing and having a crop transferring opening infore-and-aft register with the inlet opening in the housing; upper andlower, rearwardly opening U-shaped brackets on the rear of the adapterstructure engageable with said mounting pins; means releasably securingthe brackets on said pins; a corn head disposed forwardly of the adapterstructure including an upright, transversely extending rear wall havinga crop outlet opening in fore-and-aft register with the openings in theadapter structure and cutterhead housing, respectively; an upwardlyopening socket means on the corn head; an upwardly projectingsocket-engaging means on the adapter structure for engagement with anddisengagement from the socket means; and additional disconnectablefastener means between the corn head and the adapter structure spacedvertically from the socket means.
 6. The combination described in claim5 wherein the crop outlet opening in the rear wall of the corn head issubstantially larger than the inlet opening in the cutterhead housing;and the adapter structure encloses a substantial portion of the outletopening.
 7. The combination described in claim 5 further including powertransmission means on the adapter structure operably connecting a powersource means on the forage harvester with a power input means on thecorn head.